Last weekend was the annual "Potter" Pend Oreille Lake cruise in northern Idaho. Monty's have been joining their group for this trip for the last few years. This year, it was really a Montgomery rally. I felt sorry for the lone Potter that came from clear over near Seattle hoping to sail with other Potters, only to be surrounded by 4 Montgomerys, 1 McGregor26D, and 1 ODay25. The sailing was very good for August (normally stalled under a high pressure system) as a cold front was moving into the area. Friday was spent sailing the southern end of the lake. Randy Graves and Gary Hyde joined me on my M17 for a couple hours sail to experience the differences between their 15's and a 17. The general opinion seemed to be that a 17 feels like a much larger boat, while a 15 sails more like a large dingy. Friday night we all got together at Buttonhook Bay, a state park facility with docks and restrooms in a beautiful sheltered little anchorage at the very southern tip of the lake. We were joined there by fellow M boaters Harvey and Deena Hockstetter in their M15 Pelican and Jim Desnoyers who was sailing his McGregor instead of one of his M15's (yes, he has 2!). He fit our rally into a busy trip schedule sailing all over the inland northwest. Saturday we headed north toward Whiskey Rock. The winds started out light, with fingers of wind coming up from behind and carrying us along on the leading edge of the wind as long as you stayed in one of the wind paths. If you strayed 50 yards away it was dead calm! Eventually the wind filled in the holes and we flew down the lake, most sailing wing and wing all the way. We arrived at Whiskey Rock in only a couple of hours, a distance of 9 miles. The afternoon was spent swimming and visiting. A fire pit on shore provided a place for Randy and I to barbecue our steaks, but we must have looked pretty funny trying to eat them on the run to get away from the swarming yellow jackets. We finally ending up standing out in the lake eating steak with our fingers to get a little relief from the bees. A storm was forecast for that night and it arrived in the early morning hours with wind, rain, and crossing waves for those who weren't in the most sheltered part of the bay. The O'Day 25 got the worst of it, out a buoy with 6 people on board and 2 seasick dogs. Pend Orelle is a large deep lake surround by steep mountains which funnel the winds and stir up some big waves. I once heard the Sheriffs boat there on the VHF talking about 8 ft. seas! As we headed back down the lake Sunday morning, we were faced with heavy squalls of rain which obscured everything over a mile away, breaking waves, low cloud cover shrouding the mountains, and gusting winds which had me putting in reefs, taking them out, and then putting them back in again as the winds looked like they were dying out, only to come roaring back again. This was full rain suit sailing, and it was great! Almost no one else was out on this nasty day and it was wild and exhilarating as we pounded to windward with spray flying over the cabin on the biggest waves. Several boats ended up having to motor to make any progress against the wind and waves, but the M17 loves this stuff and we had a terrific sail back to the takeout. What a great boat! Larry Yake M17, #200 Tullamore P.S. As I was cruising along today, the wind started gusting. I glanced up to check the sails only to find my view blocked by the roof of the truck I was driving!